Revealed: CA officials floated plan to expand BBL to 10 teams, 96-game season

With the Big Bash coming under heavy criticism for its length and lack of star power, News Corp can reveal officials floated a plan that included expansion and a staggering 96-game season.

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Cricket Australia officials were so determined to squeeze every drop out of the Big Bash League that it floated a plan to expand it to a staggering 72 games.

Amid growing disquiet over the length of the current 59-game season after just 8083 people turned up to watch the Sydney Sixers at the SCG, The Daily Telegraph can reveal the full extent of CA’s bullishness about expansion during TV rights negotiations last year.

Talks during high-level meetings even raised the theory of a hypothetical 96-game model in planning for the future.

Under CA’s old leadership, officials shared with TV executives last year a detailed document called an ‘Indicative Calendar’ which tables how the cricket landscape might look over the next five years and includes comprehensive scheduling prospects for international and domestic cricket.

Cricket Australia officials have been accused of letting money destroy the Big Bash product. Picture: Getty

There is no suggestion anything was ever set in stone, but the meetings with TV networks highlight the level of confidence CA had in increasing the number of BBL games.

Looking into its crystal ball, it’s understood CA had drafted two different models for 2021 and beyond:

One which stuck with the current schedule of 59 matches and another which flagged the prospect of adding two new franchises and going to a 72-game season running to the end of February.

The success of that potential increase could then open the door for discussion about a 10-team, home and away 96-game campaign further down the track.

The motivation of executives for possible further expansion was driven by a desire to compete with the major football codes the AFL and NRL for hours of content on television.

Lynn has criticised the length of the season. Picture: Getty

Cricket Australia denied emphatically that further expansion was being planned “in the immediate future”, with the focus on “bedding down” the current 59-game schedule.

“There is no further expansion planned for the Big Bash League in the immediate future,” said a CA spokesman.

“As has been the case in the previous seven years, we will conduct a review of the schedule at the conclusion of the season identifying which aspects are working well, and what needs adjustment.

“Our priority is bedding down the current 59 match schedule, with the view to ensuring its sustainability and prosperity into the future, and we have every confidence this will be the case as the tournament evolves as a key element of the broader summer of cricket.”

The Gold Coast was floated as a potential expansion side. Picture: AAP

It’s understood Cricket Australia’s preliminary thoughts on expanding the number of teams centred on Geelong, the Gold Coast, Townsville-Cairns, Ipswich and Auckland as possible areas for two new BBL franchises.

Geelong had appeal because it could boost the Melbourne Metro TV audience, and the Gold Coast or an inland Ipswich team could do the same for the Brisbane market.

Broadcasters are concerned at the low-standard of the competition as it is with club cricketers filling out many rosters.

Some of the BBL’s biggest names including Chris Lynn and Kevin Pietersen have openly questioned the length of the season, which has increased by 16 games from last summer.

Pietersen tweeted that: “Greed will finish the BBL!”

The BBL currently runs until February 17, but in talks about a potential 72-game season it proposed a league which would start in late December and go through until the end of February.

In response to critics of the BBL’s expanded season, State and BBL officials have pointed to the length of the NRL and AFL seasons.

“It’s difficult to say it’s too long when you compare it to the NRL and AFL and the overall summer of cricket,” Kim McConnie, head of the BBL, recently told AAP.

“We actually think it’s just an adjustment.

“We’ll look back in a couple of years and go this is the turning point that really increased the value of BBL. I think it’s too early to say it’s too long.”

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